A review of the Nubia Z7 Max

Eight months after the release of the Nubia Z5S, Nubia introduced the Nubia Z7 series in Beijing, releasing three devices one after the other. The Z7 Mini boasts its good prices while the flagship Z7 phone is mainly known for its high-end specs. But what about the Z7 Max? What distinguishes it from the other two?

Max editions are usually big-screen low-end versions of flagship products, but the Nubia Z7 Max retains the Z7’s 5.5-inch screen and Snapdragon 801 processor at the cost of just 1999 RMB (322.28). Despite its name, the Nubia Z7 Max is really the third generation of the Big Bull phone. Of course, it would be such a bother to dabble into the name and what it essentially is so let’s just start the review.

Appearance

The first time you see the Nubia Z7 Max, you may almost mistake it for the Nubia Z5S mini. Considering that the Z5S mini has sold millions, it is easy to understand why its design would serve as the inspiration for the Z7 Max’s and the market seems to be pleased with this.

A comparison of the Z7 Max and Z5S Mini

The Nubia Z7, like its predecessors, has round edges and the classic red Home button which everyone should be familiar with. This familiarity points out just how famous the Nubia phones are which is important for ZTE than profits made.

Round-edged design

The most important part about this phone is the fact that it has such a plain and simple design with no marks and a good protective rear cover.

Frosted rear-cover

The buttons are located at the middle of the right side. The narrow design of the phone’s frames makes it easier and more comfortable to carry the phone on hand.

With a detachable rear cover to properly insert two SIM carts, the Nubia Z7 Max supports 4G internet as well as dual-SIM 4G.

5.5-inch 1080p display screen

At a time when Apple plans to reject one-hand phone carrying designs for big-screen ones, a screen that is less than 5 inches would already be considered small, while a screen that is over 6 inches would be considered too big which could cause a lot of problems when the phone is used. Therefore, 5.5 inches looks more reasonable for a display screen’s size.

This phone uses a 1080p Full HD display screen with a pixel density of 401ppi. It has clear graphics and a higher screen ratio which should give the user a nice viewing experience.

There is one slight problem with its built-in wallpapers which are just landscape and color palettes. These roughen up the interface. What Nubia should do is add more simple and plain wallpapers in their next products.

13mp + NeoVision 4.0

The Nubia Z7 Max has a 13mp rear-facing camera and 5mp front-facing camera with a F2.0 aperture which are pretty impressive.

One of the biggest selling points for Nubia’s phones are the the many functions provided by NeoVision. Nubia’s latest phones have the new NeoVision 4.0 which has three main modes, Auto mode, Pro mode, and Fun mode. It also has depth of field preview, and manual focus and many more.

The three main camera modes (Left), With focus and exposure separated (right)

Depth of field preview (left), Fun mode’s very many features (right)

Manual Focus

As the following samples show, the hue and graphics are clear. They portray the objects very clearly.

Close range

Close range

At a long distance

Nubia’s new UI

The Nubia Z7 Max’s OS is the Nubia UI 2.5 which has a neat and simple appearance and an interface with so many different apps, all organized in a “flattened” manner.

Nubia UI 2.5

The Nubia UI 2.5 lets you unlock a locked phone by letting you to swipe your hand upwards on the screen, after which, you will be asked whether you want to unlock the phone or use the camera. The shortcuts and notification center are concentrated in a single interface and there are not any big changes on the background and settings menu.

Locked interface (left), Notification interface (right)

Background interface (left), Settings menu (right)

The best things about the Nubia UI 2.5 are Nubia electronics and Nubia Niudun. With these, you won’t have to download third-party security software.

Nubia electronics (left), Nubia niudun (right)

Infrared remote control, projector, and NFC are all included.

Projector

The upgrades made in the UI should greatly user experience.

The Snapdragon 801

Although the existence of the Z7 shows that the Z7 Max is not a flagship phone, it still uses the current processor to date, the 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 which is compatible with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal memory storage. With a benchmark score of 35560, there is absolutely no need to worry about performance problems.

Information on device (left), Benchmark score (right)

Conclusion:

Nubia has gradually been perfecting the interactive experience of their products. When they include the new Nubia UI 2.5 and their top-notch specs into the Nubia Z7 Max, the result is an excellent cell phone at the cost of 1999 RMB. Whether you are just someone who wants a good cost-performance ratio, or someone who wants a good camera, the Nubia Z7 Max does not disappoint.